From about 1889 onwards George Minne became interested in the figure of the kneeling youth withdrawn into himself. This figure from 1898 represents the end of his search for austere, simple forms. In that same year he grouped five identical kneeling youths around a basin, the famous Fountain of the Kneeling Youths - also known as the Narcissus fountain - whose original model in plaster is owned by the museum. In the individual version of the kneeling youth there is no reference to the Narcissus story. Introspection and humility are more dominant here and give the sculpture a more religious nature. The Kneeling Youth is the artist’s best-known sculpture and many examples of it have been made, in plaster, bronze and marble.
